10 Palestinians killed in last 24 hours as deadly attacks continue

A seventh Palestinian succumbs to his wounds following Friday’s deadly clashes on the Gaza border. Further shootings and attacks into Saturday morning show few signs that the surge in violence is abating.

A special forces policeman fires tear gas at protesters during clashes between Israeli Police and Palestinians at a protest calling to protect Al-Aqsa Mosque in Nazareth, October 8, 2015. (Omar Sameer/Activestills)

A total of seven Palestinians have now been killed as a result of IDF fire at protests along the Gaza Strip’s border fence, which took place Friday afternoon. The confrontations killed six and wounded over 130 at the scene, several of whom were in serious condition. One of those, 22-year-old Jihad Salim al-Ubeid, succumbed to his wounds overnight.

Widespread demonstrations had been expected following Hamas’ call for a “day of rage” in response to the killing and wounding of Palestinians by Israeli security forces, as well as ongoing restrictions at Al-Aqsa Mosque.

On Friday, hundreds of Gazans gathered near the eastern border with Israel, close to the Shujai’ya neighborhood in Gaza City. The Israeli army began firing at Palestinians with live rounds as the demonstration approached the buffer zone along the border fence. According to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, the fire was in response to Palestinian stone throwing, as well as rolling burning tires toward army positions along the border.

A bloodied Palestinian protester is seen at a protest in the eastern Gaza Strip that left six Palestinians dead and over 130 injured when IDF troops opened fire over the border, Gaza Strip, 9 October, 2015. (Ezz Za’noun)

The Gaza Health Ministry provided the details of the other six those killed as Shadi Hussam Dawla, 20, Ahmad al-Harbawi, 20 and Abed al-Wahidi, 20, who were shot at the protest near Shujai’yah, and Muhammad al-Raqeb, 15, Ziad Nabil Sharaf, 20 and Adnan Moussa Abu Elayyan, 22, who were shot at the Khan Younis demonstration.

The violence and unrest continued throughout Friday night and into Saturday morning. Overnight, demonstrations and violent clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces were reported in East Jerusalem, Umm al-Fahm, Sakhnin, Kafr Kana, Nazareth and Jerusalem’s Old City [Hebrew links].

alestinian stone throwers clash with Israeli army in Beit El, on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Ramallah, October 7, 2015. (Muhannad Saleem/Activestills)

In Jerusalem’s Shuafat refugee camp, a Palestinian was shot and critically wounded in the early hours of Saturday morning, after reportedly opening fire on Israeli police. He died from his wounds shortly after.

On Saturday morning, two Israelis were stabbed and lightly injured on HaNevi’im Street in Jerusalem, close to Damascus Gate. The attacker, Ishaq Badran, a 16-year-old Palestinian from Kafr Aqab, was shot dead at the scene by Israeli police.

There has been a dramatic spike in violence in Israel-Palestine over the last few weeks, with confrontations over the Al-Aqsa compound leading to a spate of “lone-wolf” attacks by Palestinians and heavy-handed, frequently lethal responses from Israeli security forces. Since the wave of violence began, 17 Palestinians and four Israelis have been killed.

Natasha Roth-Rowland is a History PhD student at the University of Virginia, where she researches and writes about the Jewish far-right in Israel-Palestine and the U.S. She previously spent several years as a writer, editor, and translator in Israel-Palestine, and her work has appeared in The Daily Beast, the London Review of Books Blog, Haaretz, The Forward, and Protocols. She writes under her family's true last name in memory of her grandfather, Kurt, who was forced to change his last name to 'Rowland' when seeking refuge in the UK during WW2.

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